Chapter 46

Julian's patience frayed as he scanned the crowd for Yvonne, but every time he tried to move, more people pressed in-Rita among them, chattering relentlessly at his side.

Just as he prepared to push through, a sharp splash cut across the noise, followed by panicked cries.

"Someone's in the water!"

"Hurry, pull her out!"

Through the chaos, a faint, broken voice carried over the uproar. "Help...I can't swim..."

By the pool's edge, crew members clustered together, the same ones who had been fawning over Rita earlier.

They pointed and muttered, yet none of them moved to help Yvonne. Their nervous chatter drowned out her desperate pleas.

One of the male prop staff, leaning back with a smirk,cupped his hands around his mouth. "Quit fooling around and get out yourself! You'll wreck the pool and delay the shoot!"

Yvonne flailed in the shimmering water, coughing as she swallowed mouthful after mouthful, her struggles growing weaker with each frantic gasp.

Despair crushed her as the mocking faces along the pool blurred, their laughter echoing like knives in her ears. Her limbs grew heavy, and the last threads of consciousness slipped as water closed over her head.

At last, a nervous voice cracked the cruel chorus."Are we seriously not going to help? She looks like she's drowning-what if she dies?"

The male prop staff who had jeered at her earlier leaned on the railing, lips curled into a smug grin."No one's born knowing how to swim. You only learn when you're tossed in. Leaving her there's the best lesson she'll ever get."

He pointed toward the frantic splashing, his sneer widening. "Hey, want me to show you the basics-ah!"

His taunt snapped off in a shriek as Julian's boot caught him squarely in the chest, sending him crashing into the water.

The crowd froze, their earlier mockery evaporating,fear rippling through the silence that followed.

Julian now occupied the spot where the male prop staff had stood, his presence radiating such dominance that the air itself seemed to tighten. His piercing stare swept over the crew, sharp as a blade.

Not a word was needed for their shoulders to hunch and their gazes to drop, each one shrinking under the weight of his silent judgment. Fear of retribution chilled their blood.

Then, as if the spell had broken, that suffocating intensity lifted. Without warning, Julian vaulted into the pool, his body slicing into the water with precision,cutting toward the column of bubbles that betrayed Yvonne's fading struggle.

Beneath the surface, Yvonne felt the last remnants of her strength drain away. Her chest burned, lungs hollow, and the air that escaped her parted lips dissolved into fragile silver streams. She knew she was slipping-life ebbing with every second.

Regret pressed heavy against her heart. Reget for the farewells she never voiced, for the faces she might never see again. Most of all, regret for not glimpsing Julian one final time.

Her lashes fluttered, and her eyes drifted closed. In the hazy delirium of oxygen loss, visions blurred into dream. Through the shimmering distortion above,she thought she saw a figure-swift, lithe, gliding through the depths like a mythical merman-rushing down toward her with arms outstretched.

The figure carried the flawless features of a storybook hero, and in that instant, he overlapped with the man who had lived in her heart all this time. It felt as if the gods had answered her desperate prayers-Julian had truly come.

Her eyes went wide in disbelief when he reached her side, slipping a strong arm around her waist to pull her up.

But her oxygen-starved body betrayed her, and she clutched his arm with trembling fingers, panic still flickering through her.

He shot her a steady glance, then tilted toward her,his hand cradling her cheek as he pressed his lips to hers,sharing his breath.

From their mouths spilled bubbles that shimmered upward, the pool's sapphire depths and the fractured light above turning the moment into something dreamlike, almost otherworldly.

Her dazed gaze locked on Julian's calm, unwavering eyes, and her heart pounded like a frantic drum.

She had never confessed why did she love him so fiercely and hopelessly. Deep down, she knew-no matter how many times her life rewound, she would still fall for Julian, over and over again.